History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides

The First History Book

My work is not a piece of writing designed to meet the taste of an immediate public, but was done to last for ever.

- Thucydides

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Commentary

I don’t know how to put this any other way, but reading The History of the Peloponnesian War was a brutal slog. It’s an intensely detailed history of an intensely complex and tragic war. It took me about five times longer to complete than the vast majority of books I read, and according to online opinions, most people recommend reading select bits and pieces rather than the entire book. However, I believe in zigging when others zag (You never know when you will stumble across some esoteric alpha). So I slogged through it and read it from cover to cover, just over 600 pages.

The speeches and oratory examples were the highlights throughout. My favorite was ‘Pericles’ Funeral Oration’, which had me so fired up I was ready to go to war. I’ve included it in its entirety below (it’s lengthy, you’ve been warned). I also found it hilarious that one of the most decisive battles was won because they took an early and expeditious lunch break.

Next day, earlier than before but with the same plan of campaign, the Syracusans went into action against the Athenians by land and sea. For a great part of the day the two fleets held out against each other, attacking and counter-attacking just as they had done before; but finally Ariston, the son of Pyrrhicus, a Corinthian and the best steersman in the Syracusan fleet, persuaded their naval commanders to send to the appropriate officials in the city and order them to move the market down to the sea as quickly as possible and to compel all who had provisions to sell to bring them down and sell them there, so that they could get the sailors ashore at once, have their meal close by the ships and then, after a short interval, make another attack this very day on the Athenians when they were not expecting it.

The commanders took this advice; a messenger was sent and the market was got ready. The Syracusans suddenly backed water, went back again towards the city, and immediately disembarked and had their meal on the spot. The Athenians, on their side, were under the impression that the Syracusans had backed away towards their city because they thought they were beaten, and so they disembarked in a leisurely way, and began to attend to their various jobs, including the getting ready of their meal, in the belief that they would certainly not have to fight again on that day. Suddenly, however, the Syracusans manned their ships and sailed out to attack for the second time. The Athenians, in great confusion and most of them still not having eaten, got aboard in no sort of order and with considerable difficulty managed to put out against the enemy.

The primary and lasting takeaway for me, which Thucydides predicts in the intro to Book One, is my now intimate knowledge that human nature has changed very little in the past 4000 years. A fact that is equal parts comforting and disturbing.

It will be enough for me, however, if these words of mine are judged useful by those who want to understand clearly the events which happened in the past and which (human nature being what it is) will, at some time or other and in much the same ways, be repeated in the future.

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What I’m stealing

1. The power and importance of oratory and debate skills

2. Examples and early indicators of a declining democracy

3. When opponents are evenly matched, the aspect of surprise and/or catching an opponent off guard is a highly decisive edge.

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Supplemental Resources

Some thoughtful context via Reddit on why you should read History of the Peloponnesian War.

Three dudes discussing their experience and thoughts while reading. I related to pretty much everything discussed. I would recommend listening after reading the book.

I have not read How to Think About War but I suspect it could be an excellent entry point if the idea of slogging through the full text is giving you hives. As an aside, I’m tempted to buy a complete set of the Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers by Princeton Press for the home library.

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PERICLES' FUNERAL ORATION (emphasis my own)

In the same winter the Athenians, following their annual custom, gave a public funeral for those who had been the first to die in the war. These funerals are held in the following way: two days before the ceremony the bones of the fallen are brought and put in a tent which has been erected, and people make whatever offerings they wish to their own dead. Then there is a funeral procession in which coffins of cypress wood are carried on wagons. There is one coffin for each tribe, which contains the bones of members of that tribe. One empty bier is decorated and carried in the procession: this is for the missing, whose bodies could not be recovered. Everyone who wishes to, both citizens and foreigners, can join in the procession, and the women who are related to the dead are there to make their laments at the tomb. The bones are laid in the public burial-place, which is in the most beautiful quarter outside the city walls. Here the Athenians always bury those who have fallen in war. The only exception is those who died at Marathon, who, because their achievement was considered absolutely outstanding, were buried on the battlefield itself.

When the bones have been laid in the earth, a man chosen by the city for his intellectual gifts and for his general reputation makes an appropriate speech in praise of the dead, and after the speech all depart. This is the procedure at these burials, and all through the war, when the time came to do so, the Athenians followed this ancient custom. Now, at the burial of those who were the first to fall in the war Pericles, the son of Xanthippus, was chosen to make the speech. When the moment arrived, he came forward from the tomb and, standing on a high platform, so that he might be heard by as many people as possible in the crowd, he spoke as follows:

‘Many of those who have spoken here in the past have praised the institution of this speech at the close of our ceremony. It seemed to them a mark of honour to our soldiers who have fallen in war that a speech should be made over them. I do not agree. These men have shown themselves valiant in action, and it would be enough, I think, for their glories to be proclaimed in action, as you have just seen it done at this funeral organized by the state. Our belief in the courage and manliness of so many should not be hazarded on the goodness or badness of one man's speech. Then it is not easy to speak with a proper sense of balance, when a man's listeners find it difficult to believe in the truth of what one is saying. The man who knows the facts and loves the dead may well think that an oration tells less than what he knows and what he would like to hear: others who do not know so much may feel envy for the dead, and think the orator over-praises them, when he speaks of exploits that are beyond their own capacities. Praise of other people is tolerable only up to a certain point, the point where one still believes that one could do oneself some of the things one is hearing about. Once you get beyond this point, you will find people becoming jealous and incredulous. However, the fact is that this institution was set up and approved by our forefathers, and it is my duty to follow the tradition and do my best to meet the wishes and the expectations of every one of you.

‘I shall begin by speaking about our ancestors, since it is only right and proper on such an occasion to pay them the honour of recalling what they did. In this land of ours there have always been the same people living from generation to generation up till now, and they, by their courage and their virtues, have handed it on to us, our country. They certainly deserve our praise. Even more so do our fathers deserve it. For to the inheritance they had received they added all the empire we have now, and it was not without blood and toil that they handed it down to us of the present generation. And then we ourselves, assembled here today, who are mostly in the prime of life, have, in most directions, added to the power of our empire and have organized our State in such a way that it is perfectly well able to look after itself both in peace and in war.

'I have no wish to make a long speech on subjects familiar to you all: so I shall say nothing about the warlike deeds by which we acquired our power or the battles in which we or our fathers gallantly resisted our enemies, Greek or foreign. What I want to do is, in the first place, to discuss the spirit in which we faced our trials and also our constitution and the way of life which has made us great. After that I shall speak in praise of the dead, believing that this kind of speech is not inappropriate to the present occasion, and that this whole assembly, of citizens and foreigners, may listen to it with advantage.

'Let me say that our system of government does not copy the institutions of our neighbours. It is more the case of our being a model to others, than of our imitating anyone else. Our constitution is called a democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people. When it is a question of settling private disputes, everyone is equal before the law; when it is a question of putting one person before another in positions of public responsibility, what counts is not membership of a particular class, but the actual ability which the man possesses. No one, so long as he has it in him to be of service to the state, is kept in political obscurity because of poverty. And, just as our political life is free and open, so is our day-to-day life in our relations with each other. We do not get into a state with our next-door neighbour if he enjoys himself in his own way, nor do we give him the kind of black looks which, though they do no real harm, still do hurt people's feelings. We are free and tolerant in our private lives; but in public affairs we keep to the law. This is because it commands our deep respect¹.

'We give our obedience to those whom we put in positions of authority, and we obey the laws themselves, especially those which are for the protection of the oppressed, and those unwritten laws which it is an acknowledged shame to break.

‘And here is another point. When our work is over, we are in a position to enjoy all kinds of recreation for our spirits. There are various kinds of contests and sacrifices regularly throughout the year; in our own homes we find a beauty and a good taste which delight us every day and which drive away our cares. Then the greatness of our city brings it about that all the good things from all over the world flow in to us, so that to us it seems just as natural to enjoy foreign goods as our own local products.

‘Then there is a great difference between us and our opponents, in our attitude towards military security. Here are some examples: Our city is open to the world, and we have no periodical deportations in order to prevent people observing or finding out secrets which might be of military advantage to the enemy. This is because we rely, not on secret weapons, but on our own real courage and loyalty. There is a difference, too, in our educational systems. The Spartans, from their earliest boyhood, are submitted to the most laborious training in courage; we pass our lives without all these restrictions, and yet are just as ready to face the same dangers as they are. Here is a proof of this: When the Spartans invade our land, they do not come by themselves, but bring all their allies with them; whereas we, when we launch an attack abroad, do the job by ourselves, and, though fighting on foreign soil, do not often fail to defeat opponents who are fighting for their own hearths and homes. As a matter of fact none of our enemies has ever yet been confronted with our total strength, because we have to divide our attention between our navy and the many missions on which our troops are sent on land. Yet, if our enemies engage a detachment of our forces and defeat it, they give themselves credit for having thrown back our entire army; or, if they lose, they claim that they were beaten by us in full strength. There are certain advantages, I think, in our way of meeting danger voluntarily, with an easy mind, instead of with a laborious training, with natural rather than with state-induced courage. We do not have to spend our time practising to meet sufferings which are still in the future; and when they are actually upon us we show ourselves just as brave as these others who are always in strict training. This is one point in which, I think, our city deserves to be admired. There are also others:

'Our love of what is beautiful does not lead to extravagance; our love of the things of the mind does not make us soft. We regard wealth as something to be properly used, rather than as something to boast about. As for poverty, no one need be ashamed to admit it: the real shame is in not taking practical measures to escape from it. Here each individual is interested not only in his own affairs but in the affairs of the state as well: even those who are mostly occupied with their own business are extremely well-informed on general politics - this is a peculiarity of ours: we do not say that a man who takes no interest in politics is a man who minds his own business; we say that he has no business here at all.

We Athenians, in our own persons, take our decisions on policy or submit them to proper discussions: for we do not think that there is an incompatibility between words and deeds; the worst thing is to rush into action before the consequences have been properly debated. And this is another point where we differ from other people. We are capable at the same time of taking risks and of estimating them beforehand. Others are brave out of ignorance; and, when they stop to think, they begin to fear. But the man who can most truly be accounted brave is he who best knows the meaning of what is sweet in life and of what is terrible, and then goes out undeterred to meet what is to come.

'Again, in questions of general good feeling there is a great contrast between us and most other people. We make friends by doing good to others, not by receiving good from them. This makes our friendship all the more reliable, since we want to keep alive the gratitude of those who are in our debt by showing continued goodwill to them: whereas the feelings of one who owes us something lack the same enthusiasm, since he knows that, when he repays our kindness, it will be more like paying back a debt than giving something spontaneously. We are unique in this. When we do kindnesses to others, we do not do them out of any calculations of profit or loss: we do them without afterthought, relying on our free liberality. Taking everything together then, I declare that our city is an education to Greece, and I declare that in my opinion each single one of our citizens, in all the manifold aspects of life, is able to show himself the rightful lord and owner of his own person, and do this, moreover, with exceptional grace and exceptional versatility. And to show that this is no empty boasting for the present occasion, but real tangible fact, you have only to consider the power which our city possesses and which has been won by those very qualities which I have mentioned. Athens, alone of the states we know, comes to her testing time in a greatness that surpasses what was imagined of her. In her case, and in her case alone, no invading enemy is ashamed at being defeated, and no subject can complain of being governed by people unfit for their responsibilities. Mighty indeed are the marks and monuments of our empire which we have left. Future ages will wonder at us, as the present age wonders at us now. We do not need the praises of a Homer, or of anyone else whose words may delight us for the moment, but whose estimation of facts will fall short of what is really true. For our adventurous spirit has forced an entry into every sea and into every land; and everywhere we have left behind us everlasting memorials of good done to our friends or suffering inflicted on our enemies.

‘This, then, is the kind of city for which these men, who could not bear the thought of losing her, nobly fought and nobly died. It is only natural that every one of us who survive them should be willing to undergo hardships in her service. And it was for this reason that I have spoken at such length about our city, because I wanted to make it clear that for us there is more at stake than there is for others who lack our advantages; also I wanted my words of praise for the dead to be set in the bright light of evidence. And now the most important of these words has been spoken. I have sung the praises of our city; but it was the courage and gallantry of these men, and of people like them, which made her splendid. Nor would you find it true in the case of many of the Greeks, as it is true of them, that no words can do more than justice to their deeds.

‘To me it seems that the consummation which has overtaken these men shows us the meaning of manliness in its first revelation and in its final proof. Some of them, no doubt, had their faults; but what we ought to remember first is their gallant conduct against the enemy in defence of their native land. They have blotted out evil with good, and done more service to the commonwealth than they ever did harm in their private lives. No one of these men weakened because he wanted to go on enjoying his wealth: no one put off the awful day in the hope that he might live to escape his poverty and grow rich. More to be desired than such things, they chose to check the enemy's pride. This, to them, was a risk most glorious, and they accepted it, willing to strike down the enemy and relinquish everything else. As for success or failure, they left that in the doubtful hands of Hope, and when the reality of battle was before their faces, they put their trust in their own selves. In the fighting, they thought it more honourable to stand their ground and suffer death than to give in and save their lives. So they fled from the reproaches of men, abiding with life and limb the brunt of battle; and, in a small moment of time, the climax of their lives, a culmination of glory, not of fear, were swept away from us.

'So and such they were, these men - worthy of their city. We who remain behind may hope to be spared their fate, but must resolve to keep the same daring spirit against the foe. It is not simply a question of estimating the advantages in theory. I could tell you a long story (and you know it as well as I do) about what is to be gained by beating the enemy back. What I would prefer is that you should fix your eyes every day on the greatness of Athens as she really is, and should fall in love with her. When you realize her greatness, then reflect that what made her great was men with a spirit of adventure, men who knew their duty, men who were ashamed to fall below a certain standard. If they ever failed in an enterprise, they made up their minds that at any rate the city should not find their courage lacking to her, and they gave to her the best contribution that they could. They gave her their lives, to her and to all of us, and for their own selves they won praises that never grow old, the most splendid of sepulchres - not the sepulchre in which their bodies are laid, but where their glory remains eternal in men's minds, always there on the right occasion to stir others to speech or to action. For famous men have the whole earth as their memorial: it is not only the inscriptions on their graves in their own country that mark them out; no, in foreign lands also, not in any visible form but in people's hearts, their memory abides and grows. It is for you to try to be like them. Make up your minds that happiness depends on being free, and freedom depends on being courageous. Let there be no relaxation in face of the perils of the war. The people who have most excuse for despising death are nor the wretched and unfortunate, who have no hope of doing well for themselves, but those who run the risk of a complete reversal in their lives, and who would feel the difference most intensely, if things went wrong for them. Any intelligent man would find a humiliation caused by his own slackness more painful to bear than death, when death comes to him unperceived, in battle, and in the confidence of his patriotism.

‘For these reasons I shall not commiserate with those parents of the dead, who are present here. Instead I shall try to comfort them. They are well aware that they have grown up in a world where there are many changes and chances. But this is good fortune - for men to end their lives with honour, as these have done, and for you honourably to lament them: their life was set to a measure where death and happiness went hand in hand. I know that it is difficult to convince you of this. When you see other people happy you will often be reminded of what used to make you happy too.

One does not feel sad at not having some good thing which is outside one's experience: real grief is felt at the loss of something which one is used to. All the same, those of you who are of the right age must bear up and take comfort in the thought of having more children. In your own homes these new children will prevent you from brooding over those who are no more, and they will be a help to the city, too, both in filling the empty places, and in assuring her security. For it is impossible for a man to put forward fair and honest views about our affairs if he has not, like everyone else, children whose lives may be at stake. As for those of you who are now too old to have children, I would ask you to count as gain the greater part of your life, in which you have been happy, and remember that what remains is not long, and let your hearts be lifted up at the thought of the fair fame of the dead. One's sense of honour is the only thing that does not grow old, and the last pleasure, when one is worn out with age, is not, as the poet said, making money, but having the respect of one's fellow men.

'As for those of you here who are sons or brothers of the dead, I can see a hard struggle in front of you. Everyone always speaks well of the dead, and, even if you rise to the greatest heights of heroism, it will be a hard thing for you to get the reputation of having come near, let alone equalled, their standard. When one is alive, one is always liable to the jealousy of one's competitors, but when one is out of the way, the honour one receives is sincere and unchallenged.

‘Perhaps I should say a word or two on the duties of women to those among you who are now widowed. I can say all I have to say in a short word of advice. Your great glory is not to be inferior to what God has made you, and the greatest glory of a woman is to be least talked about by men, whether they are praising you or criticizing you. I have now, as the law demanded, said what I had to say. For the time being our offerings to the dead have been made, and for the future their children will be supported at the public expense by the city, until they come of age. This is the crown and prize which she offers, both to the dead and to their children, for the ordeals which they have faced. Where the rewards of valour are the greatest, there you will find also the best and bravest spirits among the people. And now, when you have mourned for your dear ones, you must depart.'

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Dog ears, highlights, marginalia

It will be enough for me, however, if these words of mine are judged useful by those who want to understand clearly the events which happened in the past and which (human nature being what it is) will, at some time or other and in much the same ways, be repeated in the future. My work is not a piece of writing designed to meet the taste of an immediate public, but was done to last for ever.


We are therefore forced to ask for assistance, both from you and from everyone else; and it should not be held against us that now we have faced the facts and are reversing our old policy of keeping ourselves to ourselves. There is nothing sinister in our action; we merely recognize that we made a mistake.


'As for being slow and cautious - which is the usual criticism made against us there is nothing to be ashamed of in that. If you take something on before you are ready for it, hurry at the beginning will mean delay at the end. Besides, the city in which we live has always been free and always famous. "Slow" and "cautious" can equally well be "wise" and "sensible". Certainly it is because we possess these qualities that we are the only people who do not become arrogant when we are successful, and who in times of stress are less likely to give in than others.

**Note:** Speech by Spartan King Archidamus


Because of our wellordered life we are both brave in war and wise in council. Brave, because self-control is based upon a sense of honour, and honour is based on courage. And we are wise because we are not so highly educated as to look down upon our laws and customs, and are too rigorously trained in self-control to be able to disobey them. We are trained to avoid being too clever in matters that are of no usesuch as being able to produce an excellent theoretical criticism of one's enemies' dispositions, and then failing in practice to do quite so well against them. Instead we are taught that there is not a great deal of difference between the way we think and the way others think, and that it is impossible to calculate accurately events that are determined by chance. The practical measures that we take are always based on the assumption that our enemies are not unintelligent. And it is right and proper for us to put our hopes in the reliability of our own precautions rather than in the possibility of our opponent making mistakes. There is no need to suppose that human beings differ very much one from another: but it is true that the ones who come out on top are the ones who have been 85 trained in the hardest school.

**Note:** Speech by Spartan King Archidamus


The best and safest thing of all is when a large force is so well disciplined that it seems to be acting like one man.'


the inhabitants of Attica had always lived in independent cities, each with its own town hall and its own government. Only in times of danger did they meet together and consult the King at Athens; for the rest of the time each state looked after its own affairs and made its own decisions.


But when Theseus became King he showed himself as intelligent as he was powerful. In his reorganization of the country one of the most important things he did was to abolish the separate councils and governments of the small cities and to bring them all together into the present city of Athens, making one deliberative assembly and one seat of government for all.

Individuals could look after their own property just as before, but Theseus compelled them to have only one centre for their political life - namely, Athens and, as they all became Athenian citizens, it was a great city that Theseus handed down to those who came after him,


Pericles was convinced of the rightness of his own views about not going out to battle, but he saw that for the moment the Athenians were being led astray by their angry feelings. So he summoned no assembly or special meeting of the people, fearing that any general discussion would result in wrong decisions, made under the influence of anger rather than of reason.

War with the Dorians comes, and a death will come at the same time.

There had been a controversy as to whether the word in this ancient verse was 'dearth' rather than 'death'; but in the state of affairs the view that the word was 'death' naturally prevailed; it was a case of people adapting their memories to suit their sufferings. Certainly I think that if there is ever another war with the Dorians after this one, and if a dearth results from it, then in all probability people will quote the other version.


Do not send embassies to Sparta: do not give the impression that you are bowed down under your present sufferings! To face calamity with a mind as unclouded as may be, and quickly to react against it - that, in a city and in an individual, is real strength.'


NEXT summer, at the time when the corn was ripe,


But war is a stern teacher; in depriving them of the power of easily satisfying their daily wants, it brings most people's minds down to the level of their actual circumstances.

So revolutions broke out in city after city, and in places where the revolutions occurred late the knowledge of what had happened previously in other places caused still new extravagances of revolutionary zeal, expressed by an elaboration in the methods of seizing power and by unheard-of atrocities in revenge. To fit in with the change of events, words, too, had to change their usual meanings.

What used to be described as a thoughtless act of aggression was now regarded as the courage one would expect to find in a party member; to think of the future and wait was merely another way of saying one was a coward; any idea of moderation was just an attempt to disguise one's unmanly character; ability to understand a question from all sides meant that one was totally unfitted for action. Fanatical enthusiasm was the mark of a real man, and to plot against an enemy behind his back was perfectly legitimate selfdefence. Anyone who held violent opinions could always be trusted, and anyone who objected to them became a suspect


Society had become divided into two ideologically hostile camps, and each side viewed the other with suspicion. As for ending this state of affairs, no guarantee could be given that would be trusted, no oath sworn that people would fear to break; everyone had come to the conclusion that it was hopeless to expect a permanent settlement and so, instead of being able to feel confident in others, they devoted their energies to providing against being injured themselves. As a rule those who were least remarkable for intelligence showed the greater powers of survival.


Then, with the ordinary conventions of civilized life thrown into confusion, human nature, always ready to offend even where laws exist, showed itself proudly in its true colours, as something incapable of controlling passion, insubordinate to the idea of justice, the enemy to anything superior to itself; for, if it had not been for the pernicious power of envy, men would not so have exalted vengeance above innocence and profit above justice. Indeed, it is true that in these acts of revenge on others men take it upon themselves to begin the process of repealing those general laws of humanity which are there to give a hope of salvation to all who are in distress, instead of leaving those laws in existence, remembering that there may come a time when they, too, will be in danger and will need their protection.


Indeed, there was an occasion afterwards when an Athenian ally in order to insult one of the prisoners from the island asked him whether it was the ones who had fallen who were the real Spartans. The reply was that 'spindles (by which he meant arrows) would be worth a great deal if they could pick out brave men from cowards', a remark which was  intended to show that the ones who died were simply the ones who came in the way of the stones and the arrows.


When an enemy makes a show of strength, but is in fact weak, a true knowledge of the situation will give confidence to the other side; but when one side has advantages that can really be relied upon, the less their opponents know about them the more boldly they will attack. These opponents of ours now may look to inexperienced eyes as though they were going to be dangerous. Their numbers seem to be terrific; their shouts and yells are insupportable; the way they wave their arms about in the air looks pretty threatening. But it is not quite the same thing when they come up against troops who stand their ground against all this. As they fight in no sort of order, they have no sense of shame about giving up a position under pressure run forwards and to run backwards are equally honourable in their courage can never really be tested, since, when every man is fighting on his own, there is always a good excuse for everyone saving his own skin. In fact, rather than meet you in close fighting, they think it safer to make you frightened and to run no risks themselves. Otherwise they would join battle, instead of simply making a noise. You should therefore be able to see clearly enough that everything about them which you thought frightening amounts in real fact to very little, alarming as it may be to the eye and to the ear. Stand firm, then, when they charge, and, when the time comes, retreat again in a disciplined and orderly manner. You will get into safety all the quicker like this, and you will know in the future that mobs of this kind, once their first attack is met firmly, only show off their courage by making threats of what they are going to do, meanwhile keeping well out of the way themselves; whereas, if one gives way to them, they are quick enough to press home their advantage and show how brave they are when there is no danger involved.'


Cleon and Brasidas were dead-the two people who on each side had been most opposed to peace, Brasidas because of the success and honour which had come to him through war, Cleon because he thought that in a time of peace and quiet people would be more likely to notice his evil doings and less likely to believe his slander of others.


The leader of this group was Alcibiades, the son of Clinias, a man who was still young in years (or would have been thought so in any other city in Hellas), but who had reached a position of importance owing to the respect in which his family was held. He was genuinely convinced that the best thing for Athens was an alliance with Argos - though it is true also that considerations of his own dignity affected his opposition to the peace with Sparta. He did not like the the fact that the Spartans had negotiated the treaty through Nicias and Laches, paying no attention to him because of his youth; nor had they treated him with the respect he thought due to the fact that in the past his family had looked after Spartan interests in Athens - a post which his grandfather had given up, but which he himself wanted to take on again, as he had shown by his attentions to the prisoners captured on the island. He considered therefore that in every direction he was receiving less than his due, and from the first he had opposed the peace, saying that the Spartans could not be relied upon, and that their only object in making the treaty was to be able in this way first to crush Argos and afterwards to isolate Athens and attack her.


Although in a public capacity his conduct of the war was excellent, his way of life made him objectionable to everyone as a person; thus they entrusted their affairs to other hands, and before long ruined the city.

**Note:** Referring to Alcibiades


The Thracians burst into Mycalessus, sacked the houses and temples, and butchered the inhabitants, sparing neither the young nor the old, but methodically killing everyone they met, women and children alike, and even the farm animals and every living thing they saw. For the Thracian race, like all the most bloodthirsty barbarians, are always particularly bloodthirsty when everything is going their own way.


In fact this system of charging prow to prow, which previously had been regarded as a sign of lack of skill in the steersman, was now going to be the chief method employed by the Syracusans, since it would give  them the greatest advantages.


After making these plans to fit in with the existing state of their skill and strength, the Syracusans, who were now also more confident than before as a result of the previous naval battle, proceeded to attack the Athenians by land and sea at once.


have their meal close by the ships and then, after a short interval, make another attack this very day on the Athenians when they were not expecting it.


The Athenians, in great confusion and most of them still not having eaten, got aboard in no sort of order and with considerable difficulty managed to put out against the enemy.

**Note:** On a well timed lunch being the turning point in a decisive battle


I am now plunged into the same perils as the meanest man here. Yet throughout my life I have worshipped the gods as I ought, and my conduct towards men has been just and without reproach. Because of this I still have a strong hope for the future, and these disasters do not terrify me as they well might do.


Antiphon, one of the ablest Athenians of his times. He had a most powerful intellect and was well able to express his thoughts in words; he never came forward to speak in front of the assembly unless he could help it, or competed in any other form of public life, since the people in general mistrusted him because of his reputation for cleverness; on the other hand, when other people were engaged in lawsuits or had points to make before the assembly, he was the man to give the best and most helpful advice to those who asked him for it. And after the restoration of the democracy and the setting up of courts where the acts of the Four Hundred (later reversed by the people) came in for very rough treatment, Antiphon was himself on trial for his life, charged with having helped to set up this very government, and his speech in his own defence seems to have been the best one ever made up to my time,


Speakers stood up and made encouraging speeches,


There was not another man in existence who could have controlled the mob at that time. Alcibiades stopped them from sailing against Athens, and used his tongue to such effect that he diverted them from the anger which they felt against the delegates on personal grounds. It was he who gave the reply to the delegates when they were sent away. He said that he was not opposed to the government being in the hands of the Five Thousand, but he did demand that they should get rid of the Four Hundred and that the original Council of the Five Hundred should be reinstated; he was entirely in favour of any measures of economy which would result in better pay for the armed forces; and, in general, he urged them to hold fast and make no concessions to the enemy, saying that, so long as the city was preserved, there were good hopes of some kind of agreement being reached between the two parties among the citizens, but that if either party, whether the men in Samos or the men in Athens, were defeated, there would be no one left with whom any settlement could any longer be made.


However, on this occasion, as on many others, the Spartans proved to be quite the most remarkably helpful enemies that the Athenians could have had. For Athens, particularly as a naval power, was enormously helped by the very great difference in the national characters - her speed as against their slowness, her enterprise as against their lack of initiative. This was shown by the Syracusans, who were most like the Athenians in character and fought best against them.


A number of other assemblies were held later, at which legal advisers were chosen and all the other steps taken for drawing up the constitution. Indeed, during the first period of this new regime the Athenians appear to have had a better government  than ever before, at least in my time. There was a reasonable and moderate blending of the few and the many.

1. The Founding Fathers def read Thucydides